Johanna, it's you
by SpringSeason
Summary: How would you survive as a disguised weakling? See how Johanna Mason does it in the 71st Annual Hunger Games.
1. Pilot

**71****st**** Annual Hunger Games**

_This is the story of how Johanna Mason became the victor of her hunger games._

_Note: Andreev is pronounced On-dray-If. _

I walk along the usual path to get to the east side of the forest near the mountains. It's still two hours before the sun sets. I dig up the box underneath my usual tree with my name and Andreev's carved into it. Well, technically this is a tree that belongs only to District 7 but it was some kind of joke we had when I turned 16 last year. Today is my 17th birthday and like every other day, I dig up the box with my axe and knives and begin to practice throwing. Lumber is my district's industry so even children are capable of using axes without killing themselves, but my hits are very precise and accurate. Thanks to training everyday after school for self defence, occasionally an animal can come and attack you in this district when you're chopping wood. I go up mountains to gather wild berries for my family so it is essential. Occasionally, I hit the nearby rabbits to make a good soup for the night. I keep myself busy for another hour and score two rabbits that I hide in my bag. Without warning, he appears behind me and whispers, "very inattentive today, Mason?"

I startle and Andreev laughs as I glare him down. There is nothing I'd rather do but to spend this special day with the person who is the most important to me. Andreev Wagner and his family were my neighbours ever since I can remember. We were always friends but we got into many, many nasty fights. It was not until I was 15 he had any interest in me. He was always just a big brother to me but he eventually turned into something more. We were together as a couple before us and the rest of the town even realized it. He just turned 19 three months ago, being in the industry officially full time for the first year is always the easiest but as lumberjacks get older, the jobs given to them become more and more risky. We don't get to see each other as much but he tries his best to spend at least two days a week with me.

I put the box back into the hole and bury it again. If the Peacekeepers knew we had weapons here… I stand up and he holds my hands. I feel a hard object crash between our palms.

"What's that?" I ask, examining the small box.

"Open it," he says casually.

The most unrealistic object just appeared in front of my eyes. A ruby necklace passed on for many generations in his family. Our district is very traditional about the family necklace passed on to the wife of the eldest son. Even the most starving families would never even think about selling it. This could only symbolise one thing. Marriage.

"I know what you're thinking. You're just 17, but next year we can go to the Justice Building, sign up for a house, and have our own family… This is like a … heads up… or engagement or something... Well, uh, will you wear it?" He says.

My heart stops for a moment and my instinctive reaction is to jump into his arms and let the tears come down. This is unreal. It's hard to believe it but I've never thought about marrying him before. We are lovers, and it's no secret but marriage? I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with him and I would give up everything to keep him.

"I will. Thanks. This is the best birthday present I've gotten so far," I say calmly.

He puts on the necklace on me and we sit under our tree together until it is completely dark, holding hands. We talk about things ranged from our future to the milk man's cat. He also made a fire so we can roast the rabbits and chestnuts we found. Since it's my birthday, I ate all the rabbit legs and filled myself with chestnuts and berries until I can't eat anymore. Finally, we make our way back to our part of town eventually and he walks me to the door and kissed me on lips.

"I'll see you at the reaping in the morning," he says.

"Bye," I say as I close the door and before I watch him slowly make his way to his home right next door.

* * *

"Johanna, wake up Johanna, the reaping starts in 3 hours," my brother's voice says.

"Five more minutes, Nole" I mumble in my sleep.

I don't wake until Nole wastes all his energy screaming, hitting things, making noises, and finally, singing that gets me awake. I clean my teeth and throw on one of my grandmother's old dresses. I join the rest of my family at the dinner table. My house is small but cozy. I sit and see that my father has made carrot bean soup for breakfast.

"Nole sung you awake?" he asks.

"As usual," I reply.

"How was your birthday last night with Andreev? You came home after your brother and I were fast asleep," he says, with a little fatherly concern in his voice. This is pretty rare since we never had a close relationship. I think it's because I remind him too much of mom, who died months after I was born from a disease that hit our district. The Capitol refused to send medicine until they knew it was very severe when almost a quarter of the population were dying. It was too late for my mother though. Those people with all that money… what do they care?

"It was not that late dad, and Andreev walked me to the door so it's perfectly safe," I say. Even if he didn't I wouldn't be scare, after years of learning combat fighting from Andreev has made me very strong.

"Just be careful, alright? And, good luck in the reaping," he says.

"Thanks," I reply. I only took tesserae once when I was twelve. That was the year when harvest was horrible and the food of price doubled. So coming to this reaping at age 17, I have 9 entries.

I enter the 17-year-old section in the town centre, where the reaping is held. Many people are suffering from anxiety right now, and as the time gets closer even my palms get a little sweaty. _It's ok, Johanna. You only got 9 entries_. I tell myself. I only have to last through this reaping and next year's reaping, and I won't be in danger of going into the games anymore.

As the mayor, the escort and the three victors are seated, the mayor talks about the history of Panem, reads the long Treaty of Treason, and District 7's escort Dobley Stewart reads out the name of the girl after taking it out of the bowl.

"Marla Edison," he says.

One of the victors walks towards Dobley and whispers. I think I know what this is about. Marla passed away a few weeks ago. I guess she's pretty lucky then, it's better to die at home where your family can be by your side and love you than to die a slow bloody death in front of the entire nation.

"Unfortunately, our system forgot to take away Marla Edison's name as she passed away. Don't worry. We'll pick another lucky girl!" he says and puts his hand inside the bowl and pick out another slip of paper.

"Johanna Mason," he reads.

So I guess I'm the lucky girl.


	2. The Last Words

**Chapter 2 **

_Thank you for those who reviewed! I really appreciate it! Enjoy!_

I never thought about the afterlife, but maybe it is time. Maybe I will see my mother soon.

I walk towards my death sentence and go up the stage trying to hold back my tears. Dobley greets me and gives me a hug, I try to find Andreev in the crowd and when I finally spot him, he avoids my gaze, trying to figure out what is happening.

"Congratulations, Johanna Mason! We have a beautiful girl in the games this year, right District 7? Now it's the moment you've all been waiting for, the boys!" Dobley says.

At least they can't pick Andreev, but I'm too numb right now to feel anything or think of which boy will die with me.

"Donnie Ostroff!" he announces.

I tune out of the rest of the announcement and what they have to say and shake hands with the thirteen-year-old. Do I know Donnie Ostroff? I don't know. I don't listen to the anthem, I don't listen to the Treaty of Treason. I just fiddle with the necklace Andreev gave me just last night. All my thoughts about our future, marriage, and the rest of our lives are gone. The good thing is he can surely find someone else, someone who he can give this necklace to. My dad and Nole have been well off since Nole turned 18 last year. They would surely survive without my berries and occasional rabbits that make good soup.

The peacekeepers guide me to my room in the Justice Building, where I say my final words. My dad and Nole rush in and embrace me. Their eyes are puffy and red, I feel horrible as if I've done this to them. But I have, or have I? I give instructions on how and when to wash their clothes, how to clean the dishes without breaking them, and where they can get the cheapest meat, vegetables, and grain. Before I finish, Nole interrupts.

``Don't give up Jo, you're excellent at fighting, you said so yourself and I've seen you. Give that attitude you always had right there, you can win! '' Nole says.

I nod emotionlessly and doubtfully. There's never even been a female victor from District 7.

Knowing there is not much more they can say, they just embrace me again and we sit there silently for our last minute together. The Peacekeepers come and announce time is up. They walk slowly towards the door, my father turns around at the doormat outside.

"Be strong, Jo" my father says before the door closes.

I cling on to those words. It must be awful for my father, losing my mother, then me. This might be worst because I remind him of my mother so much, it's like losing both of us at the same time.

I lay down on the couch and I hear the door open. The sight of Andreev rushing in makes me run up to him and collapse in his arms. He kisses me on the forehead and whispers something I cannot quite hear. There is one thing I have to do before time is up.

"Here's the necklace, give it to someone who can spend the rest of her life with you." I say.

I look in his eyes and see betrayal and anger. Maybe he can get over it though, maybe not this year, but next year, or the year after…

"Johanna, listen to me, you can't just give up now. For you, for your family, for us. You can't give up. You have amazing combat skills and you can throw axs and knifes with such force. All that stuff I taught you over the years, it can come to use. Do you understand me? You can win!" he says.

"How can I win, Andreev? How can I win? All those Careers from the wealthier districts probably got something better in hand and they're always grouped together, every year! I can't deal with all of them," I say, discouraged.

" You know what? You're right... Your strategy is going to have to be to act weak. Don't let anyone take notice of you. Survive in the arena and once there's only a few of you left, the pack will turn against each other. It happens every year. Once they start acting on their own, show them what you got," he says.

"I have to act weak? Even in training?" I ask.

"Yes, everywhere, we've watched these games all our lives, Jo. You can do it, I know you… I believe in you," he says.

"I've never killed anyone… it might be difficult," I say.

"Remember that time when we… and you took it down…? It's the same thing, if you don't kill it, it will kill you. Just remember that." He says.

I know what he's saying, there's only that one time when we went up to the mountains and encountered a wild dog. I took it down with Andreev's ax within seconds. This conversation is surely being monitered so I'm glad he's smart enough not to mention it. The Peacekeepers come to take him away and he kisses me on the forehead one last time and says "I love you". I watch him take every step towards the door, and he turns around to say his last words.

"Pretend they're the people who made you end up there," he says as he walks out the door.

I have to stop to think about the conversation we just had. First, I still have the necklace. Second, I have to act weak. Third, this is the first time he said "I love you". And lastly, what did he mean when he said to pretend they're the people who made me end up there? Does he mean Dobley Stewart because he picked out my name? No, he's just doing his job. This can only mean one thing. To think of the tributes as the people of the Capitol.


	3. Trees and Vines, same thing right?

**Chapter 3**

_Again, I thank those who gave me a review! It gives me a good reason to write and here's chapter 3, enjoy!_

I came to this world without a mother and my father keeps his distance from me because I remind him of her so much. This is all because of the Capitol. They're so rich, that medicine wouldn't have cost them a dinner. President Snow held it back because he thought it was okay for some district people to die. If the lumber production wasn't decreasing like crazy, he still wouldn't have done a thing.

Now the Capitol wants to kill _me_. So putting my anger towards the Capitol in the Games isn't a bad idea.

I did all I can to exaggerate my "sad and coward girl" ploy Andreev suggests at the train station. I wipe the tears off my eyes and kiss goodbye to District 7 forever in front of the cameras and step inside the train. Dobley directs Donnie and me to our rooms where we can get rest before dinner. My room in the train takes me by surprise. The dressing room is full of silky smooth pyjamas. I try half of them on before Dobley calls me to supper. I put on the red one that matches my ruby necklace. When I walk out the door, Dobley and Donnie were out in the hall waiting so we can all walk in together. It's pretty weird walking with some boy I have to kill next week. He's only an inch shorter than me, with brown hair and brown eyes, like most people in District 7.

Dobley, Donnie, and I eat with the three victors and after the appetizers and small chit-chats, they get to the serious business.

"Okay, District 7. This is how we're going to do this. Johanna, I'm going to be your mentor. Donnie, Blight is going to be mentoring you. Smith will be in charge of sponsors, allies, and gifts. Dobley will teach you the Capitol manners, now are we clear?" Bertham, our most previous victor who won the games 7 years ago, asks.

"The Capitol people have manners?" I ask, thinking of their barbarism cheering for blood and wounds. I've been so use to just saying whatever's in my mind I forget Dobley is from the Capitol.

Dobley somewhat intrigued, says in his Capitol accent, "of course! So many of us are talented in the arts, it would be a shame to not know it! There's so much literature too. We're all about class! Oh children, I got so much to teach!"

After a long pause and suddenly remembering that I'm "sweet" and "innocent", I respond, "Yes… we children don't know much." This seems to make Dobley feel a bit better. There's small talk during the rest of the dinner and once everyone finishes dessert, we move to a room where we watch the recaps.

There is only one volunteer this year, Oberon from District 4. The Careers are all in pretty good shape but only Oberon looks like he's ready to kill already. The rest of the tributes look pretty rusty except a boy from district 6. District 7 is on and I can see how I looked so cowardly and weak no one would see me as a threat. The program finishes and I try to mentally remember all the tributes.

"Time for bed," Blight says cheerfully.

* * *

"You missed breakfast! I told you to wake up an hour ago! We've arrived at the Capitol already!" Dobley screams.

I ignore him and Dobley shakes me more until I'm fully awake. I miss Nole's voice in the morning waking me up and I'll most likely never hear it again… I brush my teeth, change my clothes, and follow Dobley to the Remake Center.

What happens next is very extraordinary. The stylist, Jojo, sits in a chair directly in front me while directing the prep team what to do. I've seen Jojo a million times on television but what I see here is even more horrifying. What's in front of me is an old man who's had plastic surgeries that I'd call failures and dyed hot pink hair that makes him look like a dying flamingo. Four hours later, all my body hair is gone, my eyebrows are thin and arched, my makeup is lightly done, they've made my hair very curly, and I'm dressed in a vines costume.

"Trees and vines, same thing right?" Jojo says.

_Did these people ever go to school?_

We go down to the bottom level of the Remake Centre and the prep team loads me on the chariot beside Donnie, who's in a similar costume. We're basically just in skimpy white overalls that cover us from shoulder to thighs and fake vines that wrap around us. I still keep my necklace on as I have ever since I've gotten here, to keep a piece of home with me.

The ceremony begins and I just stand there stiffly and wait for our turn. When our chariot enters the city, I hear people cheering and screaming. I pretend I'm having fun and wave. This goes on for around five minutes and we pull up in the city circle. The President welcomes us and the anthem plays. The mentors, Dobley, Donnie and I depart to our floor in the Training Centre. I go to my assigned room, throw the stupid costume on the floor and kick it to the side. I change to something comfortable and skip dinner to go to sleep.

* * *

Surprisingly, I wake up this morning without Dobley screaming at me. I order some food for myself and stuff all of it down my throat until I'm beyond full. At 9 o'clock, Bertham knocks my door and talks to me privately about the training session today. We sit on the couch in my room where we can see the Capitol from the window.

"I wanted to talk to you yesterday but when Dobley said you were asleep, I didn't want to bother you. So Johanna, tell me about yourself, what you can do… everything," he says.

Instead of giving him a ten minute speech about my life, I just take the knife for the steak I had this morning on the table and throw it against the wall on the other side of the room. I threw it so hard, the whole blade was in the wall and all we can see is the grip of the knife stuck in the centre of the wall. Taken by surprise, Bertham just stares at me and that knife for seconds.

"This is the true Johanna Mason," I say with the confidence that lack for the days that I was in the Capitol.

**Please review!**


	4. In Training

**Chapter 4**

_Note: Sorry for the late upload! Here's chapter 4, please review and enjoy!_

"You're kind of strong, for someone your size," Bertham comments, still staring at the knife. "You know, with skills like that you can join the Careers."

I start explaining to him about the plan Andreev suggested, about acting weak so they won't hunt me down in the Cornucopia and only attacking when the time comes. When the Careers break up, I'll be the first one they kill anyways, since I'm not from 1, 2, or 4, there's less connections. Bertham seems to like the plan, so we continue to discuss my training plans.

"What should I work on during training? I can't show them what I can do," I say.

"Well, your first priority right now is to survive. You'll need snares, making simple tools, camouflaging, and plants. That will be crucial. Try some other weapons that you don't know how to use, but remember that with that much force. When you get there, start thinking about what you'll perform in front of the Gamemakers" He suggests.

Dobley calls me at 9:45 and escort Donnie and me to the training centre. We are still early but 4 other tributes have already arrived. Someone pins the number 7 on my shirt and that's when I realize I still have my necklace on.

"I have to go back upstairs, I can't wear my necklace while doing this stuff. It'll be quick," I inform Dobley.

"Hurry back!" Dobley says.

The elevator opens the moment I press the button so I go in and press my floor number. I click the "close door" button and hear someone shout "wait". I reopen the door thinking it's some trainer coming to nag me about going upstairs but my eyes meet the sea green eyes I've seen a million times on television, belonging to Finnick Odair.

"Hello, you must be one of the tributes for this year's games. I'm Finnick," he says as if not everyone in Panem knows him while he pushes his floor number.

"I'm Johanna Mason, District 7," I say.

"Well, if every girl in the games is this beautiful, I bet the Games would be even bigger," he says, with a hint of his famous flirtatiousness.

"Thank you," I say, taking it as a compliment even knowing he probably says that to every woman.

"I'm mentoring this year, Oberon from 4," he says, seeing that the door opens to his floor. "I hope to see you soon Johanna,"

I leave my necklace on a table in my room and shut the door close. I head back to the bottom floor and we start very quickly.

Right at ten, Atala steps up and explains each station. When she finishes, the tributes each head to their own station. I start off with the snares first. I have to know how to set a few of those if I'm going to stand any chance in winning. The boy from District 6 joins me and the instructor teaches us a simple snare first. We both get the simple snares pretty fast when I realize I should be a bit more brainless. When we get to the more advanced snares, I take my time to get each knot right. The boy finishes and surprisingly, helps me with the knot I'm struggling with.

"You should tie this knot first and then balance it with the wood," he explains, while showing me. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I say.

We're at the station for another hour until we learn all the snares that would be useful. I start to notice the other tributes, the Careers are showing off their skills with spikes and spears like the way it should be. I move to the camouflage station noticing that the boy is still following me. The instructor gives us a lesson on the things we can take to make color that would be useful for camouflage like flowers and grass. It's pretty stupid painting yourself in different colors but it is fun. I splatter some paint on my arms and got some on the boy's shirt. Taking it as a sign of a paint fight, he throws some paint back and me and we start to throw paint at each other and laugh. _Laugh_. I barely even smiled since I left District 7, but I might have fun while at it, it might be the last time. I start to notice people around me are staring and probably thinking I'm an idiot for thinking this is funny. _Good, adds to my brainless girl act. _

After the camouflage station, we split up and I go to the axe and knives section to look at the weapons. They're fairly new and rarely used unlike the ones back home, but the axes they provide for the lumberjacks in District 7 are straight from the Capitol so they can't be much different. I take an axe and chop it very, very lightly on the wood sample, as lightly as I can. The instructor says I'm excellent for a beginner and gives me a few pointers while I'm pretending to think he's a genius.

During lunch, I grab a lot of food and sit at a table. I notice that everyone is sitting alone except the careers are sitting beside each other. There's small talk between the two tributes from District 1 since they probably know each other. Otherwise, it is complete silence. The boy from District 6 comes and joins me.

"Johanna, right?" he asks.

"Yes, what's your name?" I ask.

"Vincentio, you're not bad with paint," he comments.

I giggle and we have small talk about the food and how the instructors look while we eat. We don't talk about anything else though, but this is to my advantage since the others will think he will protect me during the Games.

"Did you see that crazy banana hair of the guy from the camouflage station?" I blurt out.

Everyone is still listening to our conversation, but it gives them no advantage because the stuff we say is pretty useless. I'm thinking maybe I don't have to act shy to be brainless, but I don't want to get to much attention so I just eat my food for a while. It might be good to talk to him actually, so when I get my weapons in the Cornucopia, they others might think he's covering for me, unless he's trying to throw spears at me while at it.

The first training day ends and I try to memorize everything I learned today. The others are in the dinning room already but no food is served yet. I walk to my usual chair and Smith is at the side giving me a gesture to come talk to him. _What's so private?_

"Johanna, I talked to one of the other mentors today and there's something you have to consider," he almost whispers. Donnie is in the room, that's probably why.

"What is it?" I ask.

"You have an ally request, from District 6," Smith says.


	5. Interviews

**Chapter 5**

_Note: Thanks for the reviews and stay tuned for updates! Enjoy chapter 5! It's pretty lengthy!_

An ally? Someone wants to team up with me? Could it be because he wants all the weaklings to team up so we can take down the Careers? This does not make sense though, because while I was at the axe station, he was shooting arrows and didn't look half bad.

"Think it through, okay? Feel free to talk to Bertham or myself about this," Smith says, and we join our table again.

After dinner, I take a shower and knock Bertham's door. He opens and isn't surprised to see me. We sit and he pours me a cup of tea.

"Thought it through?" he asks.

"No, I never thought about having allies especially now that I'm a brainless wit," I say.

"Did you throw knives like you did this morning?" he asks.

"Not at all, even the instructor at the axe station thought I was a beginner," I reply.

"I don't know why you never thought about getting allies, Johanna. Barely anyone has won without getting together with at least one other tribute. You just have to break off the alliance before they do and don't get emotionally attached," he suggests.

"Why do you think he chose me though? Use me as a shield to block weapons when the time comes?" I ask. I've seen it happen two years ago when a Career pushed her district partner in front of her to block a spear. It still doesn't make that much sense though, because I'm small and probably won't work that great as a shield. I'd probably choose someone who's taller and bigger than me.

"Could be anything, you're going to have to ask him if you want to know," he says. I don't think he means it literally but it's true. There's only one person who will know. Vincentio.

"You still have until the last day of training to think it through," he says. "Now get some rest so you can focus tomorrow."

I nod and take the tea back to my room. For the past few days, I tried hard not to think of home but since there's a lot in my head today, I just lie on my bed and let my thoughts reach me. I don't think of Vincentio's intentions, instead I think of the day when I was 10 and Andreev was taking me deep down to the east side of the forest. He was only 12 back then and we were just friends. There were no Peacekeepers or anyone down there, because it's just wood and since logging happens there occasionally, it's stupid to put a fence there. The animals there will shoo the people back in the district anyway. Our tree is pretty deep into the forest below the mountain and he digs up a box with two axes and knives.

"I thought weapons were banned!"I say, with the fear of Peacekeepers showing up and publically executing us.

"Not unless you get caught," he says. "My father taught me a few things. He said lumberjacks have to learn to use the weapons they carry, so they can fight off animals since they appear in the woods so often."

"Where did you get those?" I ask. How could he have weapons if it's not for sale?

"My grandfather kept them here after the rebels lost in the dark days. We take good care of them though, so they're as good as new," he says.

He's right though, about the weapons looking new. They probably clean it all the time to get it from rusting. He teaches me how to hold an axe and we start learning how chop wood and cut things with knives. Eventually, we both became experts and spend a lot of our time under that tree.

On the second day of training, I focus on the plants station. Some plants I've seen back home in the forest but others are completely new to me. I don't miss a word from the instructor and carefully memorise the eatable ones. Then I move back to the snare section to review all the techniques and learn some more advanced ones. Vincentio is trying out some kind of weapon. He still joins me at lunch but we don't talk. I think he's waiting for an answer for the ally request from his mentor before he does anymore.

We take the elevator upstairs after the session finishes. Surprisingly, there's only the two of us in the elevator. This is the perfect time to ask.

"Why do you want me as an ally?" I ask, getting right to the point.

He hesitates for a moments but gives me a brief answer at the end before he steps off the elevator to his floor. "You remind me of this girl back home, Luciana."

The answer does not fulfill me but I know a lot more than I did this morning. Would I protect someone who reminds me of Andreev? Maybe, to cling on to a piece of him that's non-existence. I discuss my strategies at night with Bertham again. He's not bad for a mentor, he gives good suggestions and he's open to any of my ideas. We decide that I'll just make the basic snares for my training in front of the Gamemakers. I inform him to tell Vincentio that we will be allies if we see each other in the arena. That's IF we see each other. I still have many doubts about it because who knows what his intentions are? I don't trust him. Luciana is probably a fictional character.

On the third day of training, I try the knives and try to cut some sample branches slowly. They're relatively the same as the ones back home. After lunch, the tributes and I wait to be called. By the time they call my name, the Gamemakers are getting bored and I'm determined to make them bored to tears. I just set the most basic snares anyone can do until they tell me time's up. This is probably going to get me a 3.

I go upstairs to my floor and rest until Dobley calls me for dinner. Dinner is full of small talk that I don't really participate in. We go to the TV room to watch our scores. District 1 Careers both got an 8. The other careers got a 7, which is kind of low this year, and Oberon, from District 4, pulls off a 10. When they get to Vincentio, he scores a 9. Donnie gets a 5 and unsurprisingly, Johanna Mason gets a 4. The program ends and Dobley looks disappointed, probably because he thinks that District 7 isn't going to have a victor this year.

The next day, Dobley wakes me up early, since he said he needs to teach me a lot of Capitol manners. He doesn't have much to complain about since I conquer high heels within 10 minutes and I've seen so many Hunger Games interview on television it's easy to mimic. The real show is talking to Bertham about how I should act. He comes into my room and brings me the Capitol newspaper from this morning. The initial odds of betting are out.

"District 7, Johanna Mason, odds are 1 to 58," Bertham reads out. "District 7, Donnie Ostroff, Odds are 1 to 50."

I look through the odds with him and see Oberon with the odds of 1 to 8 and Vincentio with the odds of 1 to 10. We don't spend much more time on the newspaper though and get right down to the interview information.

"Okay, I'll ask you a series of question they usually ask with District 7 tributes and you have to answer it the way you want the tributes to think of you," he says. "How was life for you back in District 7? What do you do for a hobby?"

_Life is great. I throw knives and axes for fun._

"It is good. I love knitting, making clothing, and cooking!" I lie enthusiastically.

"I like your answer," he says and he continues on with his questions.

In the morning, Jojo and the prep team wakes me to get me ready for the evening. They comment on how lucky I am to have them here to fix me up. Bertham comes in and tells them he would prefer them to do a more "young" look on me and they agree. After they're done, I can still recognise myself. I have a lot of powder and blush on but a lot less eye makeup. My dress is light pink with silver strips. I don't really have many feelings towards my look except that I have to put my necklace on and I'm glad it matches. Jojo suggests something more glamorous like pearls but I say no.

When I go downstairs to join the other tributes, we line up according to our District number and for the most obvious reasons, I'm beside Donnie and Vincentio. We take our seats and the show begins with Caesar greeting the audience. I listen carefully to every interview and look for the ones who are obviously more confident like the Careers from 1, 2, and 4. When it is time for Vincentio, I listen to every syllable and wait to see if Caesar would ask if there's a "Luciana" back home. Turns out Caesar doesn't disappoint.

"Vincentio, I heard your family owns a butcher business in town. Tell us about it," Caesar asks midway of the interview. Maybe because every tribute's parents work in the district's industry, being a butcher from District 6 might be an interesting lifestyle.

"Nothing really, I just work at the counter after school," Vincentio replies casually.

"Do you meet any girls from the job? Tell us, Vincentio, is there a girl back home waiting for you?" Caesar asks.

"I hope she doesn't wait, I don't want her to be disappointed," Vincentio replies, with a slight change of tone in his voice.

"Would you mind telling us who she is? Unless… does she know about this?" Caesar asks.

"Her name's Luciana Gilbert, the Head Peacekeeper's daughter. We could've never been together anyways, but she knows," he says and just in the time, the buzzer goes.

"Thank you and best of luck to you, Vincentio Baitsley!" Caesar says and the crowd applauses. "Next we have Johanna Mason from District 7!"

I make my way to the center of the stage and shake hands with Caesar. Overly sweaty for my taste.

"Johanna, you look stunning today! The necklace is gorgeous, I noticed from the moment you wore that on the Chariot! Is it from your district?" he asks.

I didn't prepare for a necklace speech. But I must stick to my theme of being a coward schoolgirl.

"Yes, it's a present, from a cute boy," I reply.

"Now you have to tell us about that!" he says.

_I think this calls for the schoolgirl in love theme. _

"In our district, the necklace is given from a boy to a girl, and it goes on for generations" I say, acting shy.

"Then you really got to go home to make those generations happen!" Caesar jokes and the audience laughs. "So tell us, what's your strategy for survival?"

_Getting an axe and killing the others._

"Oh, I don't know Caesar! Maybe somehow everyone else will get a disease?" I say, pathetically. I think I spot a few tributes and a lot of the audience trying not to laugh. I'm holding back myself.

"Well, who knows? Maybe there is a pro-Johanna disease out there!" Caesar says, in attempt to make my response less pathetic. I go on with more pathetic answers to his questions and once the buzzer rings, I get off the stage.

After the rest of the interviews, the anthem plays and we are dismissed. Bertham reassures me that I did a good job and I go to bed. I actually sleep very soundly tonight because I know this might be the last night I can get rest.

It is Dobley who wakes me up in the morning. He guides me to the rooftop where Jojo is and we ascend on the hovercraft. A woman injects a tracker on me and very soon, we reach the arena. The final dressings are done in the catacombs of the arena. The jackets are thick and made with fur. It even comes with a hood, gloves, and winter boots. The pants are very thick. I stand on the cylinder and it rises. It's almost too bright to see the actual arena because there is so much snow reflecting the light of the sun.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-first Hunger Games begin!" says Claudius Templesmith's voice.


	6. Run, Johanna, Run

**Chapter 6**

_Note: Thanks for the reviews! It's great to hear what you think and I'll definitely try my best to make it even better! Enjoy!_

_Reponses to reviews: Thank you Kate for reminding me to keep Johanna in character! And Liana, I usually like fast pace stories but I'll slow down for the games if you think it's too fast. _

I look around trying to find the Cornucopia but it is nowhere to be found. I only have sixty seconds to know where I'm headed for. The heart is pounding from anxiety and I finally find it at what I guess to be thirty seconds and it is 500 yards uphill away from where I am. 500 yards uphill plus there's snow involved. I'm surprised to see this because usually it's just a short distance from the plate to the Cornucopia. I put my hood on and tighten it so the others can't recognise me. I'll have to make sure they won't know about my speed or strength until their last breath if I want to get out alive.

The gong rings and while I see some of the other tributes still figuring out what to do, I run full speed towards the horn._ Run, Johanna, run! _I think to myself. I'm not bad with long distance since I always travel from home to the east side of the woods which is at least 4000 yards away. I continue to travel at full speed and I'm the closest one to the Cornucopia. I grab a water container, ropes, and 3 knives before I see a few of the Careers are heading this way. I want to get an axe or something of a sort which is going to be deep into the horn but there's no more time, I run the opposite way of the Careers. A boy, I believe from district 3, is running towards the direction I'm heading for just a few yards away and sees me. He hasn't gotten to the horn yet so he has zero weapons. I figure my innocent act with 3 knives in my hands isn't working out too well anyways so I throw one on his stomach before he can react. He collapses and I pull out the knife right away. There's still life in him but I don't bother to finish him because he'd be dead within seconds.

I keep traveling at a quick pace for hours until there's a safe distance between me and the other tributes. I slow down and clean the knife with blood on it. I set my knives in the inside pockets of my jacket made for weapons. I realize that was my first kill, not that I really care. I don't really see him as human but some monster the Capitol sent to haunt me down. I try to remember who I am and who I must to be. I'm Johanna Mason, fierce, independent, and definitely not who I've been in front of the laughable audience for the past week. I keep traveling while looking at my possible food and water sources. My water container is filled with water but when I need to, I can probably melt the snow for water. I gulp down as half the bottle and fill it up with snow. At least this arena gives you unlimited cold water supplies. I realise I've been leaving tracks from the snow so I work on covering them and climb up the trees and try to travel from branch to branch instead of walking. Lucky for me I'm small and the trees are relatively close together.

A few hours later, I hear the shots of the cannons. One, two, three…10 are dead today, which is the average number. I notice this arena is just compiled with a lot of trees and caves and I've been traveling uphill all along which makes me think about how I got from the plate to the Cornucopia to here. I've been traveling uphill all along and there's really no way around it which might mean that this arena is a mountain, just like that one we have in the east side of District 7. Either way, my top priority is to survive and find something to eat while the others can slit each others' throats. I wish I got an axe though because it would be my best chance to defend myself. An axe can do so much more damage than 3 knives.

Traveling from tree to tree is a lot slower than walking but it saves a lot more energy since I'm just sliding from branch to branch.

I find the first herd of animals I've seen in hours and quickly stab one before they fly away. I recognise these animals; they're bar-headed geese. Sometimes they'll wonder around the district and a few courageous families will take them home quietly and have a good supper for the night. They're ugly but taste great. Some Peacekeepers usually keep a blind eye if you found it in the district and eat it at home quietly but trading or selling food that you hunted, even if it wanders in the district, will land you and your family in so much trouble. I remember a couple of times when Andreev and I found a couple of them in the forest and roasted them out there. But now I'm going to have to cook it without smoke everywhere indicating where I am.

As the sun sets, I find the place that I will settle at. There's a cave nearby so I decide to make a very small fire only enough to cook the two geese and extinguish it right away. I quickly eat as much as I can and leave the bones where they are, I'm not staying anyways. I find a strong tree and climb to a high branch that provides cover to rest for the night. The anthem is on and I create a chart on the tree with my knife to figure out who is still alive. The sky shows the boy from 3, boy from 5, girl from 6, both from 8, girl from 9, girl from 10, girl from 11, and both from 12. Now I know that all the Careers are alive and so are Vincentio and Donnie. Suddenly I get an awkward aching feeling in my head that only 10 are dead at the moment. 14 are still in cover in this cold arena, including myself, the chances of my survival are still low. I'm thinking of what Bertham said a few nights ago when he said barely anyone has won without allies, which is true. Generally speaking, the winners are usually the Careers and they're almost always grouped together, therefore they've all had allies. It is hard surviving on your own while 6 other well-trained fighters are haunting you down. I feel something on my neck and just remember my necklace is here with me, the last piece of home. Bertham said having a necklace on you generally isn't a good idea because tributes can use it to choke you but honestly, people would just use a knife. It's more convenient anyways and faster. _Get some sleep, Johanna_, I think to myself. I fall half asleep with the ability to wake up if any attacks come at the moment with my hands inside my pocket holding on to a knife.

I wake up with nothing but the sound of the annoying birds and insects, because there's no Nole to sing me awake this morning. There's no Andreev who waits by my door the days he doesn't have to work to walk me to school. There's no dad getting ready to go off to the forest, while keeping quiet and still keeping his distance from me. I'm craving breakfast and climb down to look for more geese or other animals. There's absolutely nothing until I find 3 snow pile-like figures. They are not figures I can just stab and cook though, ones with white fur and perfect for camouflage in a place like this. Once their eyes lock mine, the loudest roars ring in my ears and I can immediately see my reflection in their eyes from their mutated colour that adds to the viciousness ready to prey on me.

**Please tell me what you think or what you would like to see happen in the story! Thank you!**


	7. Johanna, it's you

**Chapter 7**

**Note: I have uploaded a poll, if you have time please check it out on my profile page!**

_Response to reviews: Thanks for reviewing! For Aurelia, I always interpreted that Johanna only acted weak and cowardly in front of the other tributes until there's a handful of contestants left, because there's no need to hide her skill in front of the Capitol audiences who might sponsor her. It was never mentioned that she had an ally or anything else that's going to happen in the following chapters, but it could have happened and I'm adding more twists to it just to make it more interesting and less flat. But thank you, I appreciate every comment! _

My first instinct is to run as fast as I can until the big white bears don't chase me down anymore. Of course, that doesn't work out too well because by the time I'm panting, they're still after me. These aren't just normal bears. They walk upright and are definitely human-flesh-destroying mutations that are often seen in the Games. I decide to scale a tree but didn't do so before the bear's claws rips through my skin from my center part of my right calf to my ankle. I'm sitting on the branch screaming in pain while the bear that's leading the other two try to jump at me, either trying to pull me down or rip the branch off. This might be the end. I always thought that I would probably die from encountering the Careers or being attacked by a random tribute, not from bears throwing themselves at me. I can't climb anymore since my calves are screaming in pain. My head just leans against the trees while I wrap my arms around my wound. The bears are still trying to jump and it seems like they can't climb trees. They're way too close though, for me to feel any safety at this point and if I'm unlucky, the tallest one might be able tear the branch off if it tries hard. This might be the end after all. I hope I don't die ugly in front of my family and the whole nation though, I hate it when that happens.

Too much takes place at the next few seconds that I only realise what has happened when the bear collapses on the floor with a spear on its back. The other two bears look frightened and deliberate. The Gamemakers tell them it's sufficient because there's another tribute out there and the audience wants a man to man show. I'm not prepared to fight with blood coming out of my wound but I guess choices aren't a freebie in the games.

"Johanna, it's you!" a man's voice says. His tone changes though, I guess it's because he notices the wound. "Are you okay there?"

I finally see him. And guess who it is? My lovely and amazing best friend, Vincentio. He pulls out the spear from the bear's back and looks around before he pulls up to the branch beside mine. This might be some ploy to act friendly then attack me so I place my right hand in my pocket holding my life onto the grip of the knife. If he decides to attack, he's going down with me. There's no way I'm going to die alone. I can't be the first to attack though since I obviously can't fight with this wound at the moment. I act happy to see him though, with a smile trying to fight off the pain. He slides closer to my branch and offers me his hand without the spear to help me down. I give him my hand, if he wanted to attack, he would've. Maybe it's because I said if I see him in the games, we'd be allies. Maybe he bought that. He helps me down the tree and guides me to the nearest cave. He tells me to sit down and offers to look at the wound. My pants are soaking with blood, he's not grossed out by it though. He lifts up fabric and looked at the wound. Instead of encouraging me it doesn't look too bad, he goes through his backpack and digs out a box with remedies inside. He sprays something from a bottle on my wound which stings so much my eyes get extremely teary and he uses 5 huge bandages to cover up my wound after.

"Thank you," I say gratefully. And I am, but he will eventually regret not killing me though because I won't repay him.

"I think your blood and our footprints left a trail in the snow, I'll be right back," he says casually and he's out of the cave before I know it with only his spear in his hand, leaving his backpack with me. I still hold on to my knife in case there's an attack by anything or anyone but I relax a bit and lean my head on the walls of the cave. It's pretty big, it can fit at least 5 people and there's no cracks so if it snows, there's shelter. Also, smoke won't escape as much if we start a fire. Vincentio is back with the dead bear on his back and tosses it on the ground.

"It's getting cold and I'm hungry," he says. "Both meat and fur, it's a double deal."

_Oh yeah, so that their fur can always remind me of the good days I was almost tarred apart in pieces by them, very thoughtful Vincentio. _

"That's so smart!" I exclaim. Not really, I don't want to eat that thing's meat or wear it but it could be revenge of a sort and it would be a waste to not eat it. He cuts up the thing within minutes and skins it quite professionally. Then I remember that he's the butcher's son so cutting up meat and skinning the animal is probably his forte. The bear doesn't have much meat to it, really, but he starts a small fire and roasts the bear meat on two separate sticks and hands me one once it's done. It is enough to fill us both up for the day. After our meal, he disposes all of the bones and other gross internal organ stuff outside and comes back in to finish with the pelts. By the time he's done, it's well into the night. He makes us both a nice scarf, a good layer to some parts of our jackets and ties it around my wound since the part of my pants that covered it was ripped apart.

"Thanks, again," I say. I'm not use to owing people so much, this could be a big exception.

"Thank the bear, so how were your days in the arena?" he asks.

"Okay, until the bears came along," I say. Now it's my turn to ask a question to look like I care. "What happened to your face?"

He touches the bandage that doesn't exactly cover much of his wound. It's deep and definitely not an accident.

"Cornucopia, the guy from District 1 did it I believe," he answers. "Did you get anything there?"

"Yes I did, three knives, a water container, and some ropes that are tied around me right now so I don't have to carry it. No one bothered chasing me down though, I guess I can understand why. What'd you get?" I ask, curious to know what's in the bag. I wanted to open it while he was gone but I need him to trust me 100% until my leg gets better because right now I have zero chance of escaping if he no longer trusts me.

"See for yourself," he says and hands me his bag. There's a shield inside that's not too big that could be very convenient, some food, the box with medication, some matches, and the same water container that I have. Plus he's got knives in his belts and that spear. He must have fought hard in the Cornucopia.

"That's a lot of stuff, did they chase after you?" I ask. The real question is did you kill anyone but obviously I'm not asking that.

"A couple of the Careers did but they went back to the Cornucopia after a while before all the good stuff was gone," he explains. Sounds like he didn't kill anyone. Suddenly I remember that boy from District 3 with the knife in his stomach that I can't mention if I'm going to win his trust.

"Oh, I see," I say flatly. We hear the anthem announcing the second day in the arena is over and there are no casualties today. Vincentio and I did put on a good show today so I hope the audience doesn't get bored yet. The announcement is over and a moment of silence occurs before he speaks.

"Glad I found you though, I haven't gotten any sleep seeing that I'm the only one on guard, keep the fire going and wake me if there's anything, okay?" he asks.

"Alright," I say and I let him fall asleep while I watch the fire and listen for any noises from the outside. I think about all that has happened today, with the bears and Vincentio saving me. I still don't understand why we're allies and how we establish this trust system that shouldn't exist, probably because he wants someone to guard so he can sleep. I'm lucky it was him though and not the Careers that was in that area. Did the Gamemakers do this on purpose? Guide me to where Vincentio is so we can make an alliance? I'm sure they took note of us laughing at the Camouflage station and thought it might be interesting seeing us become allies or fight. Alliances are popular amongst crowds since there's conversation going on and add more drama. I try to remember anything useful from prior games about alliances that I would help me. I know that I will have to be the first to break this alliance and when the time's right, I might even be the one to kill him.

_Sleep well, Vincentio, while you can_. And I don't wake him up until I can see the sunrise from the entrance of our cave.


	8. The Careers

**Chapter 8**

_Note: Sorry for the late upload! Enjoy!_

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep for a little while?" Vincentio asks, as he's packing his supplies.

"I'm fine, we have to look for food now and we should do it during the day while we can see," I advise.

"Whatever you say, just make sure your wound is okay," he says. We do seem like friends from the way he speaks. Of course, this is common in the beginning of alliances in the Games, since most of us still think death's door is closer to the one we have at home. It just gets tenser as the days past. We could be here for another couple of weeks, if we're lucky.

We walk out our cave's opening and face the bright sun reflecting on the snow. My calf is a lot better than it was yesterday, that spray really did the trick. I melt some more snow in our water bottles while Vincentio gathers some firewood for fire. We drop off the firewood in the cave and walk around on guard searching for food. At around two hours later, we find a crew of bar-head geese and we immediately take down four. Since they're not afraid of humans, it's not too hard to get them. Even the feeble Johanna can take down one with her knife and limited strength. We clean out the internal organs and bones of the geese and leave the remaining meat in our bag. We make our way back to the cave but then I realise we haven't been talking this whole time and the audience must be getting bored. I have to say something before the Gamemakers decide it's time to play some "games" with us.

"So, why did you decide to help me when you saw me?" I ask in a quiet voice so I don't block out any sounds I should hear, knowing the audience is dying to know. I honestly don't have to know but I am curious, it doesn't matter if he lies though. _Make up an interesting story, smart guy_.

He is indecisive for a moment, as if he is thinking of what to say but then responds softly, "My mentor told me to find someone who I can temporarily trust as an ally. From the moment I saw you on the chariot with your vines costume, I knew I wanted you as an ally."

_Not bad, keep it going_.

"Oh," I say, trying to make it look like I don't remember anything he said to me in the elevator or in his interview about this Luciana girl who I remind him of. I want to dig something out of him but don't want him to feel all uncomfortable. The Gamemakers need more, it's either conversation time or bear time. _Talk more, talk MORE Vincentio Baitsley!_

"You know when you asked me a similar question in the elevator? About us being allies? Same reason. The looks definitely had to do with it, but I think it's because you seem genuine and trustworthy," he says.

_Kind and genuine, must be a first._

"I remember now, Luciana right?" I ask. Before he can respond, we are near the entrance of our cave without noticing the noises. We're so caught on to our conversation that we don't hear the unusual sounds before we almost step inside. Something or someone is in our cave. Both of us look at each other with an alarmed look, I hold on tightly to my knife and he has his spear and shield is in ready position. Whatever is inside the cave, we're going to have to face it, because it's meant for us. I'll try to keep up my act as much as I can with the wound and all, but when it's time to fight, I'm going to be fighting.

We step in, ready to attack, but there's only a burning fire inside, with the firewood that we left. The noise is just the fire making popping noises. Someone set it up and it's not us. Vincentio and I look at each other again, still alarmed. What has happened? The fire obviously didn't set itself up. We hear someone outside coming inside in the cave. It's the girl from District 2, a Career! She's casually carrying more firewood and coming inside but turns extremely alarmed once she sees us. She drops all her firewood immediately and Vincentio immediately throws the spear at her. Her reflexes are amazing, knowing it is coming, she dodges immediately. The spear hits the Cave's wall and she runs out instantly, knowing the 2:1 ratio is to her disadvantage.

"Yura! Aleto! Oberon!" She shouts as she runs as fast as she can. I'm guessing those are the names of the other Careers, which means we're out of luck. Once we heard those names, Vincentio grabs his spear and our instincts tell us we should immediately run the opposite direction of the girl and hope we don't meet her allies along the way. My calf is slowing me down more than usual but I can still run at a decent pace. It's not like there's an option anyway. We keep running as fast as we can go and I know we're both thinking the same thing. _Please don't catch up with us_. And they don't.

But of course, a male Career is walking our direction back to the cave with two geese, the same type Vincentio and I shot earlier. I'm sure he didn't hear the girl yell and doesn't know there's trouble. He spots us a second after we do. We can't run the other way, the other Careers are there. We must fight. It's only him anyways, so I hope he's one weak fighter. I'm guessing the Careers were all split apart to set up camp thinking there are no other tributes around. He drops the two geese and takes out his sword from his belt. Vincentio is in fighting position and so is the Career. I step back a bit with my knife pocket and my hand holding on tightly to it. Should I run? No, once these two finish fighting, I'll be the next victim. The Career will obviously hunt me down and Vincentio will too, knowing I abandoned him in this alliance at such an important moment. With my leg and all, I can't run too fast. So running away isn't an option, but I'm not going to put myself in danger by fighting, if I don't have to. One wound is enough for the day. So my hopes are that Vincentio wins this battle and we can escape. If he loses, then I'll have to fight the Career with my knife.

The two are circling each other at a good distance. The Career isn't paying much attention to me knowing once he kills Vincentio, I'll just be the piece of cake. I just stand aside and watch, ready to attack if necessary. The Career charges toward Vincentio and Vincentio immediately blocks it out with his shield. It's not a big shield but it saved his life. Vincentio gets thrown back a little and without wasting any more time, the Career charges once again with his sword. _This may be the end for my ally_.

Instead of dodging, Vincentio bends down and ducks under his shield trying to block out the sword's attack. The sword still cuts him on the side of his right shoulder but it's not fatal. He jabs his spear through the Career's thick jacket and stomach. Within seconds, the canon fires, announcing the death of this Career. Vincentio is in pain. He's covering his wound, but says something to me.

"Get the sword and the spear, and get us out of here!"

I react immediately. I take the spear out of the Career's stomach, grab the sword near Vincentio, and help him up. We continue to travel uphill before more of the Careers come.

"We're leaving trails with our footprints," I say, noticing our footprints are imprinted on the snow indicating exactly where we are.

"Let's travel on the trees, you can climb right?" asks Vincentio.

I nod. Almost everyone in District 7 can climb trees. You work with them everyday. It's harder for him to climb up at first using only his left arm and leg muscles. We are successful though and we travel from branch to branch, like how I traveled my first day here in the arena. Luckily, the branches are very thick. I also notice that the branches from tree to tree are always touching each other, as if it's meant to be the alternative way to travel for some of the smarter tributes. He's slow but we make it far away from the Careers with no trails to follow. The sun sets and it's starting to snow again, it is time find somewhere to stay.

"Do you want to stay in that cave tonight?" I ask, pointing at the nearby cave that looks as good as the last one.

"Sure, staying on a tree is too cold, and we can make a fire," he suggests.

We make our way to that cave and it's completely dark. I offer to get some firewood, Vincentio hands me the spear for protection. I take it and grab as much firewood as I can within five minutes since it is extremely cold outside after sun set. I get back to the cave and make a fire. I notice we haven't eaten at all after traveling for so long, so I take out the geese meat we hunted earlier and roast it on a stick with the small fire. We eat and I offer to take a look at his wound. It's definitely deep; I'm surprised he traveled that long without any complaints. I take out the box of remedies and use the spray on his wound. He squeezes his eyes shut in pain and I immediately wrap it up with the bandages.

"Thank you, I guess this answers your question?" he says.

"Question?" I ask.

"Why we're allies. Who else can I trust to go through that with me? That vicious Career I just killed?" he asks sarcastically and convincingly. I'm guessing he trusts the weak people to be more innocent and caring. Oh, and they won't attack him during his sleep.

"Well, thank you, I guess," I say.

We sit and wait for the anthem announcing the end of Day 3. They show the Career from District 2. The first Career dead in the hands of my ally, Vincentio Baitsley.

"Aren't you tired, Johanna? You haven't slept at all. Go to sleep now, I'll keep watch," Vincentio suggests.

"Okay," I say. I am tired, but who has time to be worn-out when there's barbarians and crazy animals running around this place?

I have one of my most restless nights and many dreams, all within the arena. Day 3 is over, and tomorrow, I'm just going to be expecting more torture.

_Bring it on, Gamemakers._

**Note: Thank you for reading and please review! Tell me what you think so far!**


	9. An alliance abandoned

**Chapter 9**

I wake up in the middle of the night with a strong smell of cooked meat. When I open my eyes, I'm startled by the cooked meat only a small distance from my face. Vincentio giggles and hands me a stick with leftover roasted geese.

"Funny," I say, sarcastically.

"Good, cause we don't have much more time for humour," says Vincentio. And he's right, we don't.

"Want to sleep now?" I ask. The sky is almost lighting up. "I'll wake you when the sun rises,"

"Sure. Remember to wake me if there's anything," he says and he falls asleep.

I finish the geese meat and throw the stick into the fire. I don't like the geese meat much, it's been awfully greasy for the past few days.

I stare at the fire and wonder how Andreev, my father, and Nole are doing. They must be watching my every move and cheering me on. The bear attack must've freaked them out and yesterday's battle… I take the ruby necklace off and feel it with my hands. It was just a week or two ago when Andreev proposed to me, it wasn't that long ago. If I die here, I can't imagine what it would do to the 3 people who I care about most in this world. It's all I want, for my loved ones to be happy.

_I'll try to come home, I promise. _

The rest of the night feels short and I wake Vincentio by sunrise. It's going to be a long day.

"Good morning. Let's go get some breakfast, Joey," he says, while he packs our bag.

_Joey… you ought to be kidding me_.

"Yes we should. But before that, we should set camp here, you know, make a few snares that we learned in training in front of our cave? It's good to have a place to stay instead of traveling around. It's a good idea, I thought about it last night," I say. It's not that brilliant, people have done it in the games before but I'm a dumb freak who thinks I'm smart, remember?

"Great, let's start now," he says.

We spend the next hour setting snares with my ropes around the entrance of our cave. I pretend to be stuck on a few basic steps, showing what little talent I have with these kinds of things. It's great that the snow covers up the ropes. We memorised the positions so we won't be victims of our own trick. Anyone who steps on this will be dangling on a tree by their leg and even if we don't come back in time, they'll die with all their blood centered in their brains without allies to help them. We used all of my ropes to get these snares done, but it'll make us feel a lot safer while we're inside.

"Let's go hunt now, I'm hungry. By the way, do you want to use my spear?" asks Vincentio, while handing me the spear. "Even if you don't know how to use it, it's okay. Just use it like a longer knife, it's good for hunting."

"What about you?" I ask, noticing the District 2 boy's sword tied onto his belt. I always thought he just wanted to take it so the other Careers can't have it.

"Well, I am the butcher's son. I just got the spear from the Cornucopia because it was closest to me. I'll probably do better with a sword, it's kind of like a giant knife. I use it all the time back home to 'fight' cattle," he explains with a slight hint of sarcasm.

_Funny, but I'm sure you're good at slaughtering animals just as you are with humans. Great that we're allies, for now. _

"Okay then, I'll take it," I say, as if I don't _really_ want it. I have no real experience with a spear but I'm sure it's the same thing. Maybe I can go off on my own to practice somehow. "Let's go do some hunting."

It really is hard to find some good meat in this place. There aren't any plants since it's snowing everywhere. The whole arena is covered in snow. We keep traveling along the path, hoping to find something to hunt. I stop to fill my water bottle with more snow and shake the bottle to melt the snow. All of a sudden, Vincentio runs off and disappears into the woods. What's happening? Is he abandoning this alliance? Is something running at us?

"Vincentio?" I say softly to the direction he was running for, not wanting to shout to drag attention to me. He's not coming back. Should I follow him? No, maybe he abandoned the alliance or at least, something is going on. Just to be safe, my instincts tell me to run the opposite direction, which is uphill. I don't know what's going on or where I'm going. If he abandoned the alliance, I shouldn't stay put just in case he decides to come back and kill me. This is a strange way to abandon an alliance though and it's still early in the games. He even gave me a spear. Something tells me there's something else going on but since I can't guarantee it, I can't go back. I keep running until there's a safe distance between me and what's going on back there. Whatever it is, it's going to have to wait because my first priority is to fill my empty stomach. There has to be more than geese in this arena, we'll all die from malnutrition of greasiness.

I travel until there's a safe distance between me and the spot where Vincentio ran off. Whatever is going on is still bugging me, but I have to set my survival priorities first. I travel from branch to branch again like I did yesterday to cover up footprints but there's still no luck. After a while, I feel exhausted from all the traveling and climb up higher on a tree to rest. When I set my foot on a branch around 10 feet high, I slip from what I believe is ice and fall down on my back. This isn't too good since I still have that wound from the bear attack to take care off. It isn't too bad though, my back just feels a little pain. It always happens to kids in District 7 when they're climbing trees. I notice that I landed on some bushes and my eyes catch the little things on the bushes. Berries! I look at them very carefully, they're regular blueberries we have back home and in the Training Centre! How do they grow in the snow though? Probably Gamemaker oriented. I fill myself with as much as I can hold for about an hour. I fill all by pockets up with berries and continue to eat when all of a sudden, the cannon fires. It's official. Half of the people in this arena are dead. 12 are left in play.

Now that I think about it, it's awfully to my disadvantage that I left the ropes with Vincentio. I risked my own life to get them from the Cornucopia! I should use them to set my own traps. It can help Vincentio set traps that he can use against me someday. I was with him at training, he's great with traps. He can do a lot of traps with ropes too, like me. It can get you food, keep you safe…

I'm making it official. I'm going back to get the ropes and it's going to happen tonight. Hopefully he didn't take all the ropes and left already. I wouldn't do it in the daylight anyways, it's too dangerous. I'm not being the butcher's son's kill tonight. I just collect more berries and eat as much as I can before my mission tonight. Once I'm completely full, I start practicing with my new weapon, the spear. I couldn't get it at first, but it's pretty similar to throwing knifes. Except it's more deadly and requires more arm muscle movement. With more practice, I'm able to get a good stick on the tree. It's no axe, but I'll probably be able to take down some people with it in case on an attack.

It's dark and cold outside. Vincentio should be inside the cave at this time. I can't see if there's light inside the cave, since you have to turn in to see. That's the huge advantage about this cave. I'll have to find my own place now. I have to take all the ropes I left for the trap before he spots me. I quickly work on the first one and try to undo the knot attached to a branch.

"Hey!" a voice yells and it's Vincentio's. I see him now, he's coming over with a torch but then his facial expression changes from being angry to a much calmer look once he sees who I am. "Johanna, what are you doing up there?"

_Baking muffins, smart guy_. Vincentio really doesn't get many points for being intelligent or cunning.

"The knots are loose," I lie.

"Alright, fix it and come inside," he says. I climb down the tree and walk inside the cave with him. We sit down and Vincentio throws his torch into a pile of firewood to start a fire.

"Johanna, where were you? I came back and you were gone! I thought you might've been dead! I was looking for you," says Vincentio.

_I thought you abandoned this alliance, stupid. Should I stand there and let you shoot me?_

"I thought we had to run from something!" I say innocently.

"I did have to run _for_ something, for this," he says, holding up something inside a silver parachute. "It's our first sponsor gift. The wind blew it the wrong way and I had to go get it. I didn't have much time to explain what was going on. I thought you would stay put."

So he didn't abandon the alliance after all.

"What's inside?" I ask.

"A loaf of bread. Well, half a loaf now. I finished my half," he says, passing me the bread. "Here, it's still good."

I examine the bread. I've seen this in a lot of the games, this type of bread with the nuts and whole wheat bread. It is sent to District 6 tributes. It's the signature gift from the mentor for District 6. I remember it very well because the tribute got it everyday last year and the mentor sends it every year. I've always wanted to try bread with nuts, but they never have it in District 7. The only types of nuts we have are chestnuts. This is obviously a gift meant for Vincentio and he saved half the loaf for me. He also mentioned earlier he was looking around for me. It's so … kind. A type of kindness I haven't felt from anyone in the longest time. Actually, I've never gotten this type of kindness from anyone besides Andreev, my father, and Nole.

_No, Johanna, don't. Don't associate anyone in this arena as someone kind. _I remember the advice Andreev gave me that I can really use now when we said our last words. I must associate people in this arena as monstrous creatures the Capitol sent to kill me.

My ego is telling me loud and clear. I can't accept this kindness. I shouldn't even call it kindness. It will only lead me down to a horrible path of trusting him. At the end of this alliance, we might have to fight. I can't associate him with any acts of kindness, I can't.

"I'm bad with nuts," I lie. I adore nuts. Andreev and I use to always roast chestnuts back home. The bread is actually making my mouth water but my conscious mind tells me to hold it back.

"That's too bad, it's delicious," he says. "Want to sleep?"

"You go ahead first, I'm not too tired," I say.

"Okay, wake me when you're tired," he says and he falls asleep quickly.

I look down at my necklace attached to my neck. The red ruby reflects the light from the fire. I'm setting it as a reminder that I must fight through this.

_Your duty is to survive and kill, Johanna._ I destroy every last shred of compassion and kindness I felt inside me tonight mentally. It's probably not that difficult since I never had much to begin with. An hour passes and the anthem plays, announcing the end of day 4. They show a picture of a boy from district 9 who died earlier today. He could've been a victim of the Careers. Anyhow, only half of the tributes are left in the play and I remind myself, I'm here to win. Tomorrow will be another day, where everything can turn around. I can hear my family and Andreev telling me, "go ahead Johanna, you can do it."

**Note: Thank you for reading! Please review!**


	10. All or Nothing

**Chapter 10**

_Note: Just a thank you for those who reviewed and are following this story! Enjoy!_

_BOOM._

It's the cannon. Another one dead, meaning there's 12 left in play including me. Maybe the Gamemakers will be easier on the rest of us since there's a death for the day. Hopefully the death was interesting with a slight hint of drama and not just some stupid child eating a big red poisonous mushroom. Can't get bored from that.

This wakes Vincentio and he demands that I sleep for a couple of hours before sunrise. And I do, because who can fight with no energy? I sleep for around 6 hours before I wake myself up with a sore leg. The wound no longer hurts as much but I do get this numb feeling once in a while. I slept longer than I intended, although the weather is awfully bad outside and sunlight is barely visible. It's foggy and dark, which could be dangerous in the Games.

"It's not fair for you, I slept for so long. Why didn't you wake me?" I ask.

"We're not in a rush, but the food just ran out," Vincentio says, tossing the last berry in my mouth. "Come on, let's get us some food."

We leave the cave with everything but the leftover firewood that would last us for another night. I carry my spear along with knives on my belt and the water bottle in my pocket. Vincentio carries his backpack. It's time to look for food again, even though the weather is horrible. I show Vincentio where I got the berries from last night and we take with us as much as we can fill in our bag and pockets and make a meal at it. The berries don't really fill us up though. I wish we could have more of that greasy geese meat or some bread.

We continue our trail of looking for animals to hunt, but there's no luck. Suddenly, we hear some unusual noises I can't quite figure out and fast-paced footsteps running towards us. It's a girl, who's not from the Career pack, running our way, with a massive tornado behind her that the fog's been camouflaging.

"Run!" Vincentio screams. We sprint as fast as we can to get away from the tornado. The girl is just a few steps behind us and she looks exhausted. The tornado is blowing up the snow and I cannot see anything with the snow in my face and the foggy weather. We all just keep running and running, with no intention to rest or stop since this may cause us our lives. The tornado is getting closer and closer, there's no way we can stop it. The girl started slowing down from fatigue and the tornado takes her away. Even with all the loud noise the tornado is making, the cannon fire is still loud and clear. Vincentio and I keep running as fast as we can and we're panting from all the over exercise. We can't run anymore, we can't help but slow down and just the moment when we think we're going to be two more cannon shots of the day, the tornado slowly disappears. The Gamemakers say it's enough, we've worked hard enough to stay alive, just for the day.

We lie on the ground panting starring into the sky and then at each other. The fog is disappearing too, showing us the bright sun in the sky. The birds are beginning to sing, as if the tornado never happened.

"Let's go back to the cave," Vincentio says. I guess he doesn't want to talk about it, I don't either. What's so great about talking about a huge mass of wind? Suddenly, that's when I got the thought. Talking. Usually in the Games, the tributes that talk with their allies gets less Gamemaker events chasing them down because they're already creating a scene. I would hate to talk about home but maybe I can get Vincentio to talk. About what though? What do the audience of the Capitol love? I think of the popular victor celebrities in the Capitol, like Finnick Odair. When he recited that love poem, the Capitol audience nearly died of overly gushy love. Love, that's it. I'll be curious about Vincentio's love life!

We make our way back to the cave silently, still trying to get pass the shock of the tornado. I'm over that already, because that was history and I have to focus on the present to keep myself alive. We warm ourselves up with the fire that Vincentio made with the leftover firewood, it's time to talk.

"Today was scary," I say dumbly.

"I'll say. That was a lot of exercise I haven't done for a long time," Vincentio replies casually.

"Did you do good in track and field back in school?" I ask.

"Yes, I had to. It's the Baitsley family legacy, to win the 40 Yard race and other events," Vincentio says proudly. "I can tell you're not a bad runner."

_Observant. Well, not really, it was kind of obvious._

"Usually I'm not that good, but I guess I'm good at running for my life," I say. "That legacy of yours must've impressed a lot of people. Boys like that are really popular in my school."

Like Andreev, I would add, but I wouldn't since I don't want to bring him up in front of Vincentio. He was always really good at the track stuff back when he went to school, I'd always give the "back away stare" to the girls that looked at him too much. I guess I fell for him longer than I thought I have.

"Sometimes, though it's only to the girls you don't really care if you impress," he says.

_Perfect answer, Vincentio._

"Like Luciana?" I ask. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, actually."

"Yes, I guess so. She's a year older than me plus she's the Head Peacekeeper's daughter, so it's not that easy to impress her. We're really good friends though," he says.

"She's not your girlfriend?" I ask.

"No, her father wants her to do better than the butcher's son," he says.

"Oh," I say. I know we have to stop there because "better than the butcher's son" means being victor now in his case. Talking about victory in an alliance is dreadful, since only one or neither of us will live.

"How about you? I remember you saying something about that necklace you're wearing during your interview," he asks. Now I remember it too, I said it was a present from a cute boy that gets passed on for generations.

"It's really nothing, just from a special someone" I say. I don't want to mention Andreev or share anything about him with the whole nation. I'll let Vincentio do the work.

The sun is setting and we see a silver parachute fall from the sky. Vincentio goes and gets it. He comes back in and we open the silver parachute together. It's warm bread, this time it's a plain loaf. That probably means half the loaf is meant for me since I said I'm bad with nuts last night. We divide the loaf and finish it quite quickly. We have the leftover berries we picked this afternoon for dessert and relax, waiting for the anthem. There will be two deaths today. They show a girl from District 3 first who died in the morning, and then they show the girl from District 5 who died from the tornado. Her face disappears in the sky announcing the end of day 5. The casualties have been going fast, there's 14 dead already. This means 10 of us are left in the arena. None of the Careers, except the one Vincentio killed, are dead, so half of the 10 are Careers. Three of them are out there somewhere probably alone and there's Vincentio and me. 10 people. This alliance can't go on much further, but I should probably wait until one or two more deaths before I leave.

"I'm going to sleep, remember to wake me," Vincentio says, and he doses off.

This would be a good time to leave, while he's asleep. But I don't, because I know there's more use to this guy. I can't believe I was feeling some kind of weird friendly feeling towards him last night just because he was sort of nice to me. This changes completely though, because thinking of the 14 people who are dead and the tornado that happened today shook me awake.

Because in the Hunger Games, it's all or nothing.

**Please review, tell me what you think, what you would like to see more of, or what needs improvement. Thanks for reading! **


	11. An axe, a double bladed axe

**Chapter 11**

_Note: Just a thank you to all of you who are reviewing and are following this story, especially HoppinginTrees since you spent a lot of time on reviewing and I really appreciate it! And to answer your question, it's named "Johanna, it's you" because that's the first thing Vincentio said to her when he first saw her in the arena when he saved her life from the bears. It made the difference between life and death in her case. Enjoy!_

"Shall we go look for food? We also need more firewood for tonight," Vincentio says.

It's been cold in the arena for the past couple of days. Without the warm fire at night, the both of us would freeze to death. The Gamemakers are really good at doing their job of making us suffer. You got to give them credit for that.

"Okay, let's go," I say. We leave our cave again like we did yesterday. Vincentio carries the backpack and his sword. I carry my own water container and spear. I'm still not very comfortable with the spear since it's not what I'm use to and I couldn't work with it in front of the other tributes during training. I tried it out two days ago, but I still got issues with this. Maybe there's some way to get other weapons…

We continue down our trail and find lots of firewood. We drop it off inside the cave and head off again. There's no more meat running around so our only option is to go to that berry bush for more food. We are forty yards away from the bush and I stop Vincentio before we go any further. There's a tribute pigging out at the berry bush. Just when I am about to suggest we go the other way, I see it. It's an axe. A double bladed axe! The girl is holding it. I think I recognise the long dirty blonde hair tied back, it's the girl who came inside our old cave the other day. She dodged Vincentio's spear and ran off calling the names of her allies. Why is she alone? Maybe she didn't find her allies after she ran away from us. She wasn't carrying the axe then. In any case, she's a Career, with an axe I want. Vincentio finally sees her and raises his eyebrows. A huge tree is blocking us from her view so she doesn't notice we're that close to her. Plus, she's busy with the eating. She looks real hungry.

"Let's turn around," Vincentio advises, very softly.

"No, she's too close to our cave. Look at the weapon she has! And the berry bush is our only food source. I don't want to starve to death!" I reply softly, giving perfect excuses. We need to attack. It's the only way I can get that axe from her.

"We have sponsors, Johanna. I know you're scared that she's close, but…" Vincentio whispers, with confusion running in his voice. Just a tad bit more convincing will do.

"She's going to come by our cave like last time. I've been having nightmares about that," I lie. "It's safer to attack now. What if we don't get sponsors? I'm hungry."

Vincentio looks down for a second, as if he's deciding. Perfect. I still sound feeble and above suspicion in front of him, but I convinced him to fight. I know there's a lot more use to this guy.

"Okay. I hope you're good with that spear…" says Vincentio. He prepares his shield and is in ready position with his sword. "On a count of three…"

"One."

I hold on tightly to my spear. It's time to fight. I must get that axe if I'll have any chance of winning. I'll make Vincentio fight for me so I won't get injuries.

"Two."

_Remember Johanna, stay behind him._

"Three!"

We charge towards the girl who's still munching on the berries. Her eyes open wide the moment she sees us and defends herself with her axe. The two of them are fighting at the berry bush and I'm just standing there being confused, not knowing what to do. I would help Vincentio, but I can't let him know I can fight. He'll be cautious of me and I won't be able to take the axe without him being all suspicious. I stay behind Vincentio at all times holding my spear in ready position, just in case the girl attacks me. The two are blocking each other's attack with their own weapons. Vincentio has a slight advantage with the shield but the girl has amazing reflexes. Well, she is a Career. She's trained to be here. All of a sudden, Vincentio's sword finds home above the girl's stomach causing her to scream to pain. Vincentio then tries to injure the girl's wrist so it frees from the axe, but not before the girl throws the axe towards his stomach with her limited strength. Both of them are now on the ground, injured. The axe is free from the girl's hands, right beside Vincentio. Vincentio still has the sword in his hand but is lying on his side, moaning in great pain.

"Johanna!" he screams.

I know what he wants. He wants me to finish her off. I'm capable of doing that. My heart is still beating fast from all the action but I'm not scared since she's barely able to move from the injury. It must be pretty terrible. I must finish her off before she finds any sort of strength to escape or attack.

I run towards her and stab her in the heart with my spear. The girl's eyes open wide and a soft moan comes out of her. Two seconds later, the cannon fires. Vincentio is behind me still moaning in pain. Should I finish him off? This would be a good time to break the alliance…

"Johanna, let's clear out," says Vincentio, his voice is not too weak. He stands up and walks towards me with one hand holding on to the sword and one hand covering his wound. Blood is coming out of it but it's probably not that deep since the girl was injured herself when this was done. I pick up the axe and leave the spear in the girl's stomach. I don't want it anyways, now that I have this axe.

_Thank you, Vincentio._

"Let's go back to the cave then, I'll take a look at your cut," I suggest, forgetting about the berries I'm suppose to pick. Who's in the mood to pick berries anyways?

As we're walking back to the cave, I know I made a good decision of not attacking Vincentio. I guess that wound just hurt badly for that one moment. It's not bleeding that much and he can walk just fine. I've seen this guy fight twice and he's not one you want to fight close up with. It seems like he's better at close up combat than something from a distance. I don't even know if I'm his match quite honestly. I know I'm better with the axe than the girl. My advantage is that he's unsuspicious of me and won't see anything coming if I decide to attack. Suddenly, he seems just as dangerous, if not more, than all the other Careers in this arena. Actually, he may even be more dangerous since he killed two Careers. The only two Careers dead were kills of Vincentio Baitsley. Just as we're about to go inside the entrance of our cave, a silver parachute descends from the sky. I catch it as it falls, it feels very warm. It must be food.

Once we get inside, I make a fire with the firewood we got earlier. I take out the box of remedies from his backpack and lift up his shirt and jacket to see the wound. Just as I thought, it's not too deep. Not enough to kill him at least. His thick jacket protected his organs and a lot of layers of flesh. I spray that spray on the wound he used on me after the bear attack. His whole body tightens. The spray does sting the wound a whole lot, but it gets a lot better afterwards. Lastly, I wrap up the wound with the bandages provided in the box of remedies.

"Thanks," he says.

"No problem. I'm sorry I was no help during the fight. I was just… I don't know. I'm glad you're okay now though. Anyways, you want to eat?" I ask.

"Sure," he says. I open up the silver parachute to find a perfect loaf of plain bread, for the both of us. I divide up the loaf and we finish it in no time. The bread will be enough for the night.

"Why don't you get some sleep? I'll wake you when the anthem plays," I say. We have nothing to do anyways.

He smiles and nods. Within minutes, he's asleep with the sword in his hand. An hour later, I decide to head out. This should be a good time to leave. I think about the possibility of killing him in his sleep, but in case I don't succeed, I might be the one killed. Why not let him and the Careers fight it out? Now that I got the axe, I actually have a chance. It's decided, I'm leaving him for the Careers. Should I take anything with me? No, that might wake him and I don't need all that stuff. The only thing useful is the box of remedies but it's not worth getting caught. I should probably get some ropes that we left outside as traps. I'll just take apart as many of the snares as I can and make a run for it. There are only nine people left anyways.

Just as I make my way quietly towards the entrance. I hear his voice. "Johanna?"

_Damn_. I turn around and act concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Where are you going?" he asks, curiously but not suspiciously.

"I'm out of water. Want me to fill up your bottle too?" I ask. At least that's the truth.

He nods and I head out to fill up my bottle and his. Maybe I should've waited a bit longer before I attempt to leave but I didn't want the anthem to wake him while I'm trying to run away. I fill our bottle up with snow and head back in to melt it by putting it near the fire. I have to head off soon, I no longer feel safe around who could be the most dangerous person in this arena.

"Is something wrong?" Vincentio asks. This has been my biggest mistake so far. I forgot to hide my emotions for just this one second. My face was giving out a "worried and concerned" message and it's too late to take it back.

"I killed someone today," I improvise, as if that's what I'm concerned about. Of course I'm not happy to kill people, but again, my survival comes first. And like Andreev suggests, I like to think of these people as creatures the Capitol sent.

He offers me his shoulder and I manage to pretend to cry. I am so pathetic, I should laugh at myself. I just need to make him think that I'm really weak and he would never need to be cautious around me. Oh, and I'm a sweet girl inside and out.

"Is that why you took the axe?" he asks. "You didn't want to take the spear out of that girl's stomach?"

_Thank you Vincentio! The butcher's son just made my life a whole lot easier!_

"Yes… I was scared," I say, pathetically.

The anthem soon plays at a perfect time to announce the end of day 6. They show the dirty blonde girl from District 2 and the sky is completely dark again. So far, it's been eventful every single day. There are only nine players left in the arena. Fifteen are dead already. I try to think about those who are left. There are four Careers including that boy, Oberon, who got a 10 in training. There's Vincentio and me, obviously. There are three other people… I don't even remember their District numbers. Wait… our very own District Seven's Donnie Ostroff is still alive. That little boy is a smart one… I thought he'd be dead the first day. Anyhow, even the Careers might be breaking off their alliance soon so I might as well before it's too late.

"Go to sleep, I'll keep watch," says Vincentio.

I lie down and turn to the side away from Vincentio and hold on securely to my knife attached to my belt. After what happened today, with the girl's death and all, I know this alliance is about to end. The hardest part is to get away from Vincentio because he'll try to kill me the moment he finds out I want to break this alliance. It seems like he's still fond of us being allied though. The "weakling act" must continue. I've been dependent on him to fight for me, this must stop now and I'll be the one to fight him.

The deadliest parts of the Games have begun.

**Thank you for reading!**


	12. Conversation

**Chapter 12**

_Note: Thank you so much for all of you who reviewed! It makes me so happy to know that you guys are enjoying this! Sorry for the late update! I promise to make it up to you all by writing more over the Christmas Holidays!_

We wait for the blizzard outside to be over but it won't be for a while, I can tell. All I can do is stay inside the Cave with Vincentio and eat. I'm even down to my last piece of bread from yesterday's sponsor gift.

"There's no more food, and I'm hungry," I complain like a child, as I pick on and chew the last little bit on the bread.

"That's what my sister does," Vincentio says.

"Does what?" I ask. That's somewhat random how he brings up his sister.

"Nibble and pick on the little bit of food before she finishes, it always annoys me," he says. Maybe he's feeling homesick, since I never even asked about his family today. This would be a good time to start a conversation. Maybe a decent one can land us some food and save us from being victims of the Capitol's boredom.

"I didn't know you have a sister," I say, as if I'm actually interested.

"Two actually. Jodine and Vasla, they're both younger," he explains. "Do you have siblings?"

"Yes, actually. An older brother, his name is Nole. He's only a bit older, and he's working in the District Industries already. He's really funny but sometimes he takes things way too seriously and he's overly protective," I say, giving far too much information than I would ever think of giving. Why did I just give him so many details? Am I homesick too? Or maybe I'm just really desperate to talk about home since I've been gone for the longest time I can imagine.

"It's tough being the oldest kid in the family. You have to take care of your younger siblings, do more chores, and take the tesserae…Especially if you're an older brother. I get it, I really do," Vincentio says, in the most serious tone I've ever heard in his voice.

"Wow, you're really serious about this," I say. "You seem pretty protective over your family…"

"Pretty much. I remember there was this one bully who tried to hurt Jodine one time, I had to hurt him for him to back off," He says. The conversation between Vincentio and myself has been going bizarre today. I bet the Capitol audience loves it though, never wanting to miss out on any stories or gossip.

"That reminds me of Nole," I say, remember this one time when the winemaker's son tried to flirt with me while Nole and I were buying a gift with the money we saved for years for our father's birthday. I guess I'll just tell him and the whole nation the story. It's not that important. It'll entertain the Capitol people and hopefully the Gamemakers. I'll omit some parts to make it more television friendly. "We were buying some food one day and this random man tried to flirt with me. This happened, like, three years ago, when I was fourteen. Nole went, like, completely crazy and started threatening him!"

"What'd the guy do?" Vincentio asks. Is he actually interested or just playing along? Whatever it is, he should keep it going.

"He got scared and ran off, it was the funniest moment in my life," I say, desperate to make more conversation for the Capitol audiences and Gamemakers who will not be entertained if this conversation goes on boringly. "I can see you doing that for Luciana."

"Nah, no one would ever think about messing with the Head Peacekeeper's daughter. She doesn't need me to protect her," Vincentio says, somewhat shyly. "My proudest moment was probably… five years ago when I was thirteen. I took tesserae for my grandparents, parents, and siblings for two years straight. I guess that's what got me into the Games… I'm glad that it wasn't them who came in here though. I don't know what I would do if their names were picked…"

_Again with the random topics. What's with him today?_

"Don't you own a butcher shop or something?" I ask, actually curious. I always thought shop owners had nothing to worry about, unlike those of us employed in the District Industry that barely gives you much of a pay.

"Yes, but there are times when the money needs to be used for feeding the animals, paying for lighting, and feeding a family of eight," he makes clear. This only proves one thing. No one has it easy when they're living in the Districts. The Games already tells the whole story about how little our lives are worth.

"You made a lot of sacrifices for your family," I say. I actually respect him for that, unless he is lying. This does make sense though since he is in the Games with me, so he's likely to have more than seven entries.

This gives me a mixed feeling inside my chest. I'm supposed to hate everyone in this arena and attempt to kill them all! The problem is that what Vincentio said was so much like what Nole would say.I think back to the year when I was twelve. Apparently harvest was terrible in District 11 and the price of food doubled. The whole District was literally starving and even then Nole told me not to take tesserae and he took it all himself. At the end I had to, since it was the only way we could survive.

I feel glad that I didn't attempt to kill Vincentio yesterday. He did save my life before and I wouldn't have gotten the axe without him. Who knows? If I was in that cave by myself, the Careers might've come and killed me. This train of thought tears me apart. What am I thinking? Vincentio is my enemy! I sound like a complete weakling at the moment! Vincentio is a guy who's very protective over his family. This means that deep inside his mind, he's dying to go home to his family and end their suffering of poverty by being victor and having endless cash. He would do whatever it takes, which definitely includes killing me, to go home and take care of them. I'm starting to associate him with my brother, which really can't happen. I remember my mentor Bertham's piece of advice of not getting emotionally attached to allies.

I stay silent for the rest of the time, trying to think my way out of Vincentio's friendliness. We wait another hour until it is much calmer outside.

"The blizzard stopped, let's go get some food," I propose. I'm starting to starve.

"Okay. We have to be careful when we go out. There might be some tributes out there who know we're in this cave," he reminds me.

We head out and do the usual of filling our water bottles and collecting firewood. We make our way to the berry bushes and on the way, maybe hunt an animal or two. But there are zero animals in sight and the berry bushes are burnt probably from last night. This is definitely one of the Gamemakers' little schemes. Pretty uncreative really.

"What happened?" I ask. "The berries were here yesterday!"

"I guess we aren't allowed to eat berries anymore," Vincentio responds indifferently.

We head back to our cave and notice a silver parachute sitting in front of the entrance. Of course the District 6 mentor and Bertham won't let us starve! We open it to find warm bread, except it's made from cheaper, less appetizing grain. I set up a fire and we gather around it to eat. Not only is there no food in this arena, it's extremely cold. Even these horribly thick jackets cannot protect us from this weather.

"I guess this means we're out of money," Vincentio comments while examining the bread.

"I'm sure it's just because the prices go up as the Games go on…" I say, unsure. I know Vincentio is right. "Maybe there will be new food sources tomorrow and we'll get more sponsors!"

"I think the message from our mentors is that they cannot afford to buy us food everyday. It's overly pricey. I'm worried that one day, we just won't have enough cash to afford a loaf of bread…" he says.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the trumpets start playing and we sit still for the message to come, not wanting to miss a single syllable of the announcement.

"Congratulations to all of you who still remain! I'm honoured to announce that it's time for the annual Feast of the Games! It will be held at the highest spot in this arena when the sun sets tomorrow, I hope to see you all there!" Claudius Templesmith announces and then it falls into complete silence.

"A feast? What is that suppose to mean? For what?" I ask dumbly, after a few moments of silence.

"It means we have to go. It's no coincidence that the Gamemakers are making it colder than usual and eliminating all our food sources. If we don't go, we either freeze or starve to death," he says impatiently. I understand why he's upset since feasts always result to casualties and a lot of injuries. "I knew the food was taken away for a reason…"

I offer to keep watch first so Vincentio can have a good night sleep for tomorrow and so will I. The anthem plays announcing the end of Day 7. No deaths today, but no worries. There's definitely some action tomorrow.

With the food sources eliminated and the cold weather, the Gamemakers can guarantee every tribute to be at the Feast. Therefore, there will be much more deaths than any other feast in the history of the Games. I look carefully at my axe that's sitting right next to me for the first time. All I can say it that, it's a deadly weapon. The blades are sharp and it's double bladed, even more powerful than the one I have back home. It is made lighter so the user can have so much more power, even if they do not have a lot of strength. I feel confident in defending myself from this point forward but Vincentio would be huge help for the Feast. I don't know what the Feast is providing, but whatever it is, I don't like sharing. I never liked sharing with anyone with the exception of my family and Andreev. Whatever the Feast is offering, I want 100% of what we get at the end, and I'm sharing zero with Vincentio. This is what I call the breaking of an alliance.


	13. The Feast

**Chapter 13**

It's around noon when I wake up. The sun is bright outside reflecting brightly on the snow. Such happy weather really suites today's event, it'll make our blood shine more when it drips on the perfect white snow. The Gamemakers are so thoughtful.

"Good afternoon," Vincentio says, handing me some bread from the newly delivered silver parachute.

"Well I'm glad we still have some food, should we go look for more?" I ask, while beginning to eat the bread. I wish I have a toothbrush or something, this whole morning breath thing and eating without brushing my teeth has been bugging me throughout the Games.

"It's pointless. It's the Feast today, there won't be anything good outside," he says. "Let's just take a break for the first time."

This is the last day I will be spending time with Vincentio Baitsley and hopefully the last day I will ever see him. I'm ditching him at the Feast, it's as simple as that. Sure it's been great that he saved my life and all, but this is the Hunger Games. This alliance obviously can't last long anyways so hopefully everything works out just fine for the Feast today.

We spend the rest of our afternoon relaxing, eating, and practicing with our weapons just outside our cave. I pretend I'm really bad with an axe and can't even hold it properly. Vincentio even asked if I wanted to use a knife instead and we'll bury the axe somewhere. Obviously I said no but it is fun to hear how has fallen into my plan.

"Johanna, I think it's time to go," Vincentio says, just when the time is right.

"Okay, but before that, shouldn't we take our ropes with us?" I say, referring to the ropes around our cave that we set as snares we learned from training earlier in the Games. They never caught us a tribute or at least some meat, but why leave them hanging?

"We're coming back here after though, if we come back," Vincentio says. "Or if we split up, I guess we'll meet back here?"

This is ridiculous. We're not living in this cave for the rest of our lives until we're 88 years old! His dumb thoughts are really starting to get me angry. Then I start to think, is he dumb, acting dumb for the purpose of the Games, or is he just a better person than I am? Either way, I'm still angry, but I'll keep it to myself.

"We'll be together the whole time during the Feast though! So we won't split up. Plus, we might be heading for another direction or something," I suggest, trying to keep my patience. "If we do split up, then we'll meet back here in the cave."

Vincentio finally agrees and we take the snares off carefully one by one. I keep half the ropes loosely ties around me with my jacket over it and he keeps half of the ropes in his bag. I'm about to suggest we should start heading to the Feast but then Vincentio stops me.

"Wait," Vincentio says. I instantly turn around thinking something is wrong. Does he want to break off the alliance now? That would be really stupid. Instead, he suggests something else. "Hug for good luck?"

He opens up his arms. Is he thinking of killing me right when I unintelligently hug him? He has all knives in his belt so I can instantly rebel if I feel he's trying to reach it and there's nothing we have that he can use as a secret weapon. It would be stupid to kill me off now, since we're going to the feast together as allies. I walk into his arms and put my arms around him like he did for me. It's common that allies show some friendly affection towards each other like shaking hands or something. This is quite different though. He holds me very tight. I'm feeling some kind of true message of friendship.

Right after that I thought I have, he says, "If we die, it was great meeting you. I wish we didn't meet under these circumstances though."I wonder if he's thinking of Luciana, the girl that I remind him of from his District, since I remind him of her so much through my physical appearance. I'm thinking about it but I know this shouldn't be the time to analyse Vincentio Baitsley's hug.

Claudius Templesmith said that the Feast is held at the highest point in this arena. As I guessed, this arena is probably set on a mountain of some sort with lots of snow, probably up north. Vincentio and I head uphill and we just plan on keep walking until we see something that would make us stop.

"Other tributes may be undercover somewhere near, be really careful," Vincentio reminds me, as we're traveling. Of course I know that there are people in this arena that might just come out of nowhere and kill us. I'm not stupid. Well, in his mind I just am at that level of intelligence. I'm getting kind of sick of playing dumb, a change would be nice. We keep travelling for about 30 minutes until I hear something coming from the left side of me. I push Vincentio into the snow and we both land on the ground instantly. I see the obstacle that was aimed towards me hit a tree. It's a very hard snowball, probably with some ice inside! What a vicious idea! If any of that hit our heads, we'd be knocked out unconscious instantly. I turn to see who the people that threw that at us is, expecting the Careers, but insteadI see Donnie Ostroff, from my District, and another tribute that I don't remember seeing or noticing. They're teaming up.

"Run!" Vincentio says and pulls me up. We instantly run the opposite direction and Vincentio carries his shield in ready position. They run after us while throwing all those ice balls at us. By now, I'm sure all of those contain ice. I use the axe to block many from hitting me. They're really good at throwing those things. Did they practise all this time while Vincentio and I were slacking off just looking for food without success? It seems to surprise Vincentio that I blocked so many ice balls with my axe, but now it's not the time to play dumb. I wish we've gotton weapons that can fight from a distance like spears or arrows but Vincentio has a sword and I have an axe. Technically, I could throw the axe but then I'd be defenceless if another ice ball is to come at me. I could throw a knife but I'd have to stop for a couple of seconds to aim for my target. All we can do is try to keep a distance from them while blocking the ice balls to come. Suddenly, I realise that we reached the highest point in the arena. It's a small flat perfectly round field of ice with absolutely no trees. This is a great place for the feast, with no trees to block the cameras from getting every shot of us fighting to death. The ground starts to shake and in the middle of the ice field comes a big backpack. That's our little prize, what we came here for.

Without warning, both Vincentio and I run towards that bag as if our lives depended on it. I get there first and I grab the bag and run towards the opposite direction of the other tributes. An ice ball is about to hit me but Vincentio strikes it hard with his sword that it hits elsewhere. All of a sudden, Vincentio is knocked to the ground by Donnie's ally who tries to stab Vincentio with his own sword. Donnie comes out of nowhere to help his ally instead of coming after me, assuming once Vincentio is dead, I'd be a piece of cake. Vincentio wrestles them as all three of them are on the ground now trying to fight for the sword.

"Johanna, help!" Vincentio yells. Help? I stand there for just one more second before I sprint the opposite direction. Obviously I'm not going to help, there's a good distance between the three of them and me so I have a great chance of getting away. The three of them aren't running after me and the prize, Vincentio is still fighting Donnie and his ally and not letting them run towards me and the backpack. Then I remember what I said earlier, _"if we do split up, then we'll meet back here in the cave."_ Maybe he thinks we're still in an alliance even after I ran away. Maybe I didn't help because I knew I wouldn't be much help so he can fight them while I protect the prize. Now I know I'm really not the stupid one, he is. Two against one is really not in his favour. This just might be the end for Vincentio Baitsley.

The backpack is on my shoulders and I'm sprinting as fast as I can with the axe on my hand. I feel safer after around 100 yards away until I see a female Career throw a spear at me that I dodge. The Careers! I was wondering where they were! I could fight her with my axe but knowing she probably has allies nearby, it's not a good idea. There are still four surviving Careers and from previous experiences, they were all allies. Four against one is even worst than the surviving odds of Vincentio Baitsley. I keep running and the female Career chases after me. I realize I'm in a different part of the arena I've never been in and it's a lot steeper here. There's no choice but to keep on running down the steep slope for my life while my vision is beginning to blur from a small snowstorm that's starting and from the cold. I start to think that this might be it and the Career and her allies can kill me easily. I look back and realize I don't see her anymore. I keep running though, just in case she shows up again out of nowhere. I'm exhausted and my body forces me to stop. I sit behind a tree and my eyes start to close without my permission.

Note: Thanks for reading! I'm really sorry about the late update, I hope someone is still reading this story! Please review if you have time!


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